leading up to the battle of kadesh

8/12/2019 Leading Up to the Battle of Kadesh

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Leading up to the Battle of Kadesh

Leading Up to the Battle of Kadesh

(The Battle of Kadesh, Part I)

by Jimmy Dunn writing as Troy Fox

The Battle of Kadesh is one of the most well knownmilitarycampaigns of history becase it is

the earliest battle that can be reliably reconstrcted in detail from !arios records on both

sides of the conflict" #oght between$amesses II,one of %gypt&s best known pharaohs, and

the 'ittitesnder watallish (along with a nmber of allies), this battle o!er control of yrian

territory has recei!ed considerable attention by many analysts o!er the years"

'owe!er, in order to completely nderstand this historical e!ent, it is necessary to e*amine

the history that led p to this famos battle, for it was !ery literally hndreds of years in the

making"

#rom almost the beginning of recorded history, %gypt was acti!e in the Le!ant region of

sothern yria, particlarly at the port of Byblos, where the earliest inspirational e!idence ofan %gyptian king was that of Khasekhemwyof %gypt&s +nd ynasty"#rom that time onward,

%gypt had some in!ol!ement in the region, if only in the realms of diplomacy and trade"

'owe!er, o!er an e*tended period of time, the great powers of the -ncient .ear %ast soght

to control yria in order to e*ploit the economic resorces and trade of the region" yria was

the cross roads of world commerce dring %gypt&s .ew Kingdom, where goods from the

-egean and beyond entered the .ear %ast by way of ports sch as Ugarit" The ships that

docked in these ports dominated maritime trade in the eastern editerranean" They carried a

rich !ariety of goods, inclding copper, tin, chemicals, tools, glass ingots, i!ory, faience,

/ewelry, l*ry goods, timber, te*tiles foodstff together with other prodcts that were then

distribted throghot the .ear %ast and beyond o!er a network of e*tensi!e trade rotes" In

trn, these same land rotes were sed by traders who broght raw material sch as

precios metals, tin, copper, lapis la0li and other merchandise from as far away as Iran and

-fghanistan to sell in the yrian markets"
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'ence, it is easy to nderstand %gypt&s in!ol!ement in the region" 'owe!er, thogh ensret

III(1+th ynasty), seems to ha!e foght one campaign in sothern yria clminating in thecaptre of the 2ity of hechem, the early %gyptian&s appear to ha!e been, for the most part,

rather indifferent regarding this important region" Bt beginning with ensret III, who

operating ot of the new northern capital named It/tawy established by-menemhat Iin the

area of Lisht, the scene was set for a more !igoros foreign policy" $eglar en!oys began to

be sent to sch yrian city3states as Ugarit and Byblos, and there was both an increase in

foreign trade and in thefortificationof %gypt&s northeastern frontier" 4!erall howe!er, the

%gyptian policy in the Le!ant dring the %gypt&s iddle Kingdomwas relati!ely nai!e,

ltimately reslting in the econd Intermediate Period"

By the 15th ynasty, %gyptian rlers were adapting a more matre approach to international

relations and as early as the reign of-hmose, who fonded the.ew Kingdom, they began

laying down the fondations of an -siatic empire by campaigning in sothern yria" -t the

same time, there was an increase in the se of diplomacy reslting in a framework of

alliances and treaties"

The ancient .ear %ast had an early, strong tradition by which power blocks were bilt and

maintained" There were basically two types of treaties as early as the second millennim B2,

distingished by the -kkadian terms, riks (a parity treaty) and ade (essentially an oath of

loyalty or !assal treaty)" 6hile %gypt wold become deeply in!ol!ed in the sothern yria, the

se of -kkadian and Babylonian dialects as the primary langage of these treaties and

related correspondence, howe!er, sggests that %gypt was simply absorbed into an e*isting

network of international diplomacy, the origins of which probably lay in esopotamia"
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ring %gypt&s .ew Kingdom, yrian control was synonymos with 7world7 power among the

predatory empires that soght to se the region&s wealth for their own benefit" 'ence, o!er a

period of se!eral hndred hears, %gypt, and their primary enemiesin the region,itanniand

'atti, among other empires, applied considerable effort, inclding bloody warfare, to control

this !itally strategic region" 6hile the moti!ation of the !arios 7great powers7 of the region

are clear, more specifically, we can e*amine more specifically the e!ents that ltimately

clminated in %gypt&s last and best known Battle ofKadeshagainst the 'ittites"By the time of Tthmosis IIIof %gypt&s 15th ynasty, %gypt controlled a considerable region in

othern yria" 'owe!er, one of the principal conflicts leading p to this peace with itanni

was theBattle of egiddo, where Tthmosis III s8ashed a re!olt by city3states led by the

prince of Kadesh, thogh backed by itanni, %gypt&s principal ri!al in the Le!ant" 'owe!er,

this was only the first of se!enteen campaigns that Tthmosis III wold e!entally ndertake"

Tthmosis III, sometimes known as the .apoleon of %gypt, backed p his military

achie!ements in the region with a network of garrisons and nmeros !assal treaties" Taking

a long !iew of the regions strategic importance, he retrned from his campaigns with 9: sons

of La!ant chiefs, holding them hostage bt also indoctrinating them with %gyptian traditions"

They were later retrned to their homelands as pppet rlers" This e!entally reslted a long

term perception by %gypt that sothern yria was a permanent %gyptian territory"
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ring the reign of Tthmosis I;(1


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when the peace treaty was signed, bt nder the strong leadership of -bdi3-shirta, and later

his son -0ir, the inhabitants of this region formed at least enogh of a coherence that, by the

end of the 1


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4nly then did he trn west, crossing o!er the %phrates once again to enter yria, where his

tre ob/ecti!es lay" .ow, there was little in the way of a itanni empire to stand in his way, so

the yrian states rapidly fell, one after the other, to the 'ittites" ppillimas lists them as

-leppo, kish, .iya, -rakht, @atna and .hashshe" In the processes, %gypt let slip away

the important Ugarit port (reportedly withot battle) and the strategically essential Kadesh,

and withot e!en a fight"

These campaigns occrred dring the reign of-menhotep I;, better known to most as-khenaten" 2ertainly this pharaoh mst ha!e been focsed on his new religion re!ol!ing

arond the-ten(sn disk), and critics ha!e sed his inaction on this matter as e!idences of

his disinterest in %gypt&s -siatic empire" In reality thogh, %gypt&s relationship with the itanni

empire had cooled considerably in the pre!ios few years, and so the rler cared little abot

the e!ents in northern yria otside his holdings" #rthermore, the 'ittite king had also made

it clear beforehand that his campaign was directed against itanni and its yrian

dependencies only"

In fact, it was the Kadesh king himself, by nilaterally attempting to halt the 'ittite ad!ance

sothward nder the belief that he was acting in the interests of his %gyptian o!erlord, which

forced ppillimas to captre the city" ost of the leaders of the city, inclding the king and

his son, -itakama, were carried off to 'attsas ('attshash, modern Bogha0koy in Trkey),

the 'ittite capital" 'owe!er, in order to demonstrate their claim of ha!ing no design on

%gyptian territory, -itakama was retrned to Kadesh, where he renewed the city&s stats as

an %gyptian !assal"

This seems thogh, to ha!e been a rse" Upon -itakama retrn, other %gyptian !assal cities

began to report attempts on his part to sb!ert them to the 'ittite side" In fact, -itakama e!en

attacked Upe, an %gyptian !assal" till, %gypt&s only response to this sitation was to charge

-0ir, the rler of -mrr, to protect the pharaoh&s interests in the region" 4f corse, this only

ga!e -0ir the opportnity to e*ploit the %gyptians once again, as his father had done, by

e*panding -mrr&s borders at the e*pense of his neighboring !assal states" In fact, word

finally reached %gypt that -0ir too was flirting with the 'itties, and had e!en entertained

en!oys sent by ppillimas"

#inally, a demand was made for -0ir to present himself at the %gyptian cort, while Kadeshwas declared to be in re!olt" -0ir relctantly agreed to tra!el to the cort of -khenaten where

his was forced to stay for se!eral years" ilitary action was now clearly called for, and thogh

there is little in the way of docmentary e!idence, most historians belie!e that -khenaten did

indeed send troops to attack Kadesh" 'owe!er, this action apparently failed, thogh the

reco!ery of Kadesh became the focs of %gyptian military efforts down ntil the time

of $amesses IIof %gypt&s 1Ath ynasty"

'owe!er, regardless of how important %gypt&s holdings in yria might ha!e appeared to

earlier and later rlers, the .ilotic kingdom tterly failed to maintain any type of balance of

power in the region" ppillimas began to consolidate his position in the region by placing

-leppo, as well as 2archemishwhich had by now also fallen to the 'ittites, nder the rle of

his sons" Thereafter, they set abot establishing their own armies so that the loyalty of the

'ittite !assal states in yria cold be closely controlled" 'ence, there was considerably

military presence in yria, contered by almost no %gyptian conter forces" 6hen thepharaoh thogh that -0ir&s loyalties were firmly with the %gyptians, he was finally released,

bt with the balance of power in the region ob!iosly on the side of the 'ittites, he 8ickly

re!oked his !assal oath to %gypt for the protection of ppillimas"

.ow, Kadesh and -mrr, together with the %letheros !alley were lost to the %gyptians, bt

while the 'ittites may ha!e come to !iew this as their permanent territory, the %gyptians ne!er

shared that !iew, and as the military men of the late 15th and early 1Ath ynasty came to the

throne, there was no dobt that they wold seek to regain what was lost"

Unfortnately, any sch ambition was mted in the face of reorgani0ing %gypt after the

trobles of the -marna period of -khenaten&s rle" 'owe!er, after the death

of Ttankhamnin 19=+, military men sei0ed the throne of %gypt and held it for the ne*t thirty

two years" -n interesting side note to this was that, pon Ttankhamn&s death, his wife sent

a messenger to ppillimas asking to marry one of his sons" spicios, as well he shold

ha!e been, he first sbstantiated the origin of the re8est, before agreeing to send one of his
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sons to %gypt" 6hat a windfall he mst ha!e felt this was, bt we belie!e that it was

probably-ywho disco!ered this treachery and had the son killed in rote to %gypt" -ythen

married .efertiti to become one of %gypt&s last pharaohs of the 15th ynasty" oon, .efertiti

disappeared from recorded history"

6hile the time was not yet ripe for a yrian campaign, the empire did ndergo a ma/or shift in

policy" $le by pro*y had clearly not worked for the %gyptians in !assal territory, so this policy

was replaced by actal military occpation" .ow, policy was often dictated by the military, andas early as the reign of general trned pharaoh, 'oremheb,we see indications of a will to

reco!er %gypt&s lost territories and so regain the grander of the pre3-marna period"

Probably in anticipation of renewed hostilities, 'oremheb began to reestablish the old 'yksos

capital at -!aris in the eastern delta, for this was an e*cellent locale from which to lanch

yrian campaigns de to its pro*imity to rotes leading to 2anaan and yria" -!aris became

a forward operating base where %gyptian troops cold rapidly be deployed to yria" 6hile

'oremheb apparently ne!er got arond to lanching sch a campaign, his sccessor after the

brief reign of$amesses I,did /st that"

It is clear that $amesses I&s sccessor eti Ihad, from the !ery beginning, intentions of

retrie!ing %gypt&s position in yria" 'e soght to recaptre %gypt&s greatness, e!en taking as

one of his titles, 7$epeater of Births, signaling a new era" Before the close of his first year on

the %gyptian throne, he led an army into Palestine to eradicate a coalition of hostile 2anaaniteprinces and contined north into Lebanon"ignificantly, and setting a trend for the ftre,

Pharaoh lead his army for perhaps the first time since the reign of Tthmosis I;" ring the

-rmarna period, military action had mostly in!ol!ed minor campaigns, mostly police actions,

bt now, the fll army wold be welded by the king, personally"

'e, as his son and sccessor, $amesses II, took the policy of Tthmosis III as their own in

-sia" By his second year, he led an army northward to begin his offensi!e against the 'ittite

empire and the first battles between the two great kingdoms"

Today we can still see the records made of eti&s yrian campaigns in the west wing of his

war monment at Karnak" 'ere, he had recorded

7"""the ascent that Pharaoh"""made in order to destroy the land of Kadesh and the land of

-mrr7"

6e belie!e that he made good on at least one of these claims by a !ictory stela reco!eredfrom Kadesh that bears his name and e!idencing the captre of the city by his %gyptian army"
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'owe!er, many scholars belie!e he ne!er scceeded at this time in taking -mrr" Cet, with

Kadesh in hand, he was able to stage campaigns into northern yria where he met and

defeated at least one 'ittitearmy (thogh probably composed of !assal forces)" That, gi!en

the gra!ity of this sitation, the principal 'ittite forces did not immediately take action has led

some scholars to belie!e that they were occpied elsewhere, perhaps in -ssyria" Indeed, the

'ittite empire was ha!ing problems with its eastern neighbors, and may ha!e had to tolerate

eti I&s trimphs for a while"

Cet, indications as e!idenced by the annals of rsilis seem to point to Kadesh&s retrn to

'ittite hands prior to eti I&s death in 19?< B2, bt if this was the reslt of a treaty, as some

sggest, it was not to the liking of his son and sccessor,$amesses II"

The first three years of $amesses II&s reign seem to ha!e been marked by peace, bt in his

forth year, and for reasons largely nknown to s, -mrr sddenly decided to defect back

to %gyptian control" The new king appears to ha!e 8ickly led an army northward in order to

formally recei!e an oath of sbmission by the -mrr king, Benteshina"

.ot at all obli!ios to %gypt&s aspirations in northern yria, the new 'ittite king, watallish"

recogni0ed that in order to protect his holdings in yria, particlarly the strategic states of

-leppo and 2archemish, he wold ha!e to secre Kadesh"To his ad!antage, nlike the days

of his father, there was no immediate -ssyrian threat to distract him, so in the winter of 19?1

B2, he set abot organi0ing an army to reco!er -mrr and protect Kadesh" The !ene of the

coming conflict was ne!er in dobt by either party" They wold meet beneath the walls of

Kadesh in one of the great battles of history in order to settle by trial of arms the ftre of their

respecti!e empires in yria"
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leading up to the battle of kadesh

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